Four arrested at Des Moines City Council meeting after council votes to approve more than $1.5M in

Four arrested at Des Moines City Council meeting after council votes to approve more than $1.5M in new funds for police


Four people were arrested at Monday's Des Moines City Council meeting after the council voted to approve the evening's consent agenda, which included more than $1.5 million in new funding initiatives for the Des Moines Police Department.

Councilors said Monday that several residents had submitted requests for some of the items to be removed from the consent agenda — all of which concerned funding and grant requests for the department.

Councilman Josh Mandelbaum attempted to allow for 30 minutes of public comments on the consent agenda items singled out by members of the public, but was not supported by a majority of his fellow council members, and his motion failed 4-2.

"I don't see the need for a discussion since everything is already allocated for most of these and they are appropriate for the consent," councilman Joe Gatto said before voting against Mandelbaum's motion. "So I'm not going to support anything like that just to sit here and be able to take some type of criticism or comments of any kind. I think we've had plenty of that."

Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/07/19/des-moines-city-council-meeting-protest-protestors-arrested-police-department-funding-grants/8012029002/